[Sapheno-peritoneal shunt (Routte-operation) in the treatment of refractory ascites]

We describe the results of an operative method applied in patients suffering from refractory ascites. Instead of the well-known shunt-implants we started to re-use Ruotte's method, which was published 100 years ago. According to our observations the anastomosis formed by the long saphenous vein and the peritoneal surface eliminates not only the known complications of the traditional shunt-operations but also provides an effective early and a late ascites inflow. The flow of the ascites was convincingly proven by regularly performed colour Doppler UH tests. This old/new method is applicable in patients with therapy-resistant ascites to eliminate the traditional shunt-models.